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M.D., Dr., Mr., FRCS, ?

The British have their own way of referring to physicians. Some are Mr, some are Dr, some have FRCS after their name, and some have M.D. Our own John Watson was styled: John H. Watson, M.D. and referred to as Dr Watson. What are the distinctions, the degrees or education indicated, and who can come up with the list of all the physicians and their appropriate professional titles as per the Canon?

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M.D., Dr., Mr., FRCS, ? — 22 Comments

Back in the days before the internet, William D Goodrich published “The New Good Old Index”. Using that as a guide, here is a list of doctors in the Canon:

Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street; Dr. Richards, the local doctor in the area of Tredannick Wollas; “Dr. Leon Sterndale, the great lion-hunter and explorer” DEVI

“Dr. Ainstree, the greatest living authority upon tropical disease”; “Sir Jasper Meek or Penrose Fisher, or any of the best men in London” DYIN

“Anstruther would do your work for you”; Dr. Willows, local doctor of the Ross, Herefordshire area BOSC

Dr. Leslie Armstrong “he is not only one of the heads of the medical school of [Cambridge] University, but a thinker of European reputation in more than one branch of science” MISS

“In Kennington Road…there lives a well-known medical practitioner, named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the south side of the Thames. His residence and principal consulting-room is at Kennington Road, but he has a branch surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton Road, two miles away” SIXN

Dr. Grimesby Roylott—he had taken “a medical degree, and went out to Calcutta, where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he established a large practice”; as criminal doctors “Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession” SPEC

At Blair Island in the Andamans, the “surgeon, Dr. Somerton, was a fast, sporting young chap” SIGN

Ficticious old Dr. Lysander Starr, who was Mayor of Topeka in 1890 3GAR

Dr. Percy Trevelyan, 403, Brook Street, a London University man; occupied a minor position in King’s College Hospital; research into the pathology of catalepsy; winner of the Bruce Pinkerton prize and medal for his monograph on nervous lesions RESI

Young doctor Verner who bought Watson’s practice and distant relation of Holmes NORW

Dr. Wood, a brisk and capable general practitioner from the village of Birlstone VALL

The unnamed country surgeon who attended Rucastle COPP; the old, white-haired local surgeon of North Walsham, Norfolk DANC; Sarah Cushing’s medical adviser “a grave young gentleman in black, with a very shiny hat” CARD

Per Helen Simpson, “Medical Career and Capacities of Dr. J.H. Watson,” Watson earned the degree of M.D., which entitled him to be called “Doctor.” In Britain, this was a degree above and beyond the M.B. (medical baccalaureate), which required additional study and acceptance of “a thesis of outstanding merit.”

Surgeons — Members or Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons, such as James Mortimer — used the title “Mister” rather than “Doctor.”

In a paper on Watson’s treatment of Victor Hatherley, I have proposed that Watson had made a particular study of the use of carbolic acid and other early disinfectants; that he did his M.D. thesis on this subject; and that he built his practice on his reputation for controlling infection. His knowledge of carbolic acid would have given him a topic of conversation with his new flat-mate Mr. Holmes, as carbolic is a coal-tar derivative.

I was going to check out my copy of the “Medical Casebook of Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle” by Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key, as I know they wrote about MB’s, CM’s, MD’s, and FRCS’s, but not in an easily searchable way. In “The Field Bazaar”, Holmes says this to Watson about a letter he received from his old alma mater Edinburgh University, “…it was an unofficial communication. This I gathered from the use of the word ‘Doctor’ upon the address, to which, as a Bachelor of Medicine, you have no legal claim.” I’m not sure, but I thought I read that MB’s are called “doctor” and can practice as one. Of course, Watson got his MD at the University of London later. Your paper on Watson’s MD thesis sounds interesting.

I had forgotten that “Casebook of ACD” had a most useful appendix listing doctors in the Canon:

Jack Tracy’s Encyclopedia Sherlockiana also adds several unidentified doctors: one who treated Lady Falder (SHOS); Nathan Garrideb’s physician, who advised him about not going out (3GAR); the one at the leper hospital who treated Ensworth; the one who diagnosed Hope’s aneurism (STUD); the surgeon who treated Elsie Cubitt (DANC); Baron Gruner’s surgeon & a specialist who treated him (ILLU); one who treated Rachel Howells (MUSG); and one summoned to the Red Bull Inn (PRIO). To this list, I add that the hypochondriac Thaddeus Sholto (SIGN) must have consulted a number of doctors, but as they are not referenced in the story they don’t truly fall within the scope of the question.

My own experience in hospital in England was with a “Consultant” who was in charge. There was also a physician called a “Proctor” who had rank over the “Doctors” and the “Misters.” I don’t know the female equivalents as, sadly, I did not encounter distaff physicians. And that leads to another thought:

In 1895, is there knowledge of the number of women who practiced medicine in England? Is it possible that Dr Watson’s second wife was a physician, thereby making it easier for him to join Holmes on cases? Has this theory ever been posited in the scholarship?

According to http://www.mccarter.org/education/mrs-warrens/html/9.html
“Women began to attend universities: in 1869 they were first admitted to Cambridge to study, though they were not allowed to take degrees. By 1902 there were over 200 woman doctors in England, and in 1895 the first woman qualified as a dentist.” Doyle wrote about that rarity in “The Doctors of Hoyland” in the “Round the Red Lamp” collection. SPOILERS. Dr. James Ripley is a young, full-of-himself doctor. After driving out the competition, he was THE doctor for six miles round Hoyland, Hampshire. One day, a new doctor moved into the neighborhood, Verrinder Smith, MD. Turns out Dr. Smith is a woman, which offends Ripley’s sensibilities. He starts losing patients to the good doctor; after a careless carriage accident in which he breaks his leg, he is nursed to health by Dr. Smith. He recognizes her superior medical talents and loses his heart to her. He professes his love. “If I had know what was passing in your mind I should have told you earlier that I intended to devote my life entirely to science. There are many women with a capacity for marriage, but few with a taste of biology.” Sounds like a female Sherlock Holmes. I do not know of any papers positing Watson’s second wife was a physician, but my knowledge is far from encyclopedic. One must balance the small numbers of female doctors against the fact that they and Watson would run in the same small circles and have a greater chance of meeting.

However, I missed:
Lady Falder’s “doctor would certify that for months her symptoms [of the dropsy] have threatened such an end” SHOS

Nathan Garrideb’s unnamed doctor: “My doctor lectures me about never going out, but why should I go out when I have so much to hold me here?” 3GAR

The unnamed doctor who attended Rachel Howells MUSG

The unnamed doctor from Mackleton who attended the landlady of the Red Bull Inn PRIO

Jefferson Hope “went to a doctor last week about” his aortic aneurism STUD
I wonder how many more are lurking around the Canon? I guess you can’t say that there’s never a doctor around when you need one.

I was just re-reading Thor Bridge in preparation for the upcoming Montague Street Lodgers meeting, and found yet another doctor for the list: Maria Gibson’s body “was examined by the police and by a doctor before being carried up to the house.” Anyone keeping count?

I have been keeping track. I believe in a quick count that with your discovery it is 3 fictitious doctors, 41 doctors, with one of those D.D. and one Ph.D. I will have to resort my list to make the information clearer.

Some sharp-eyed Watsonian will probably come up with one or two more. I was thinking of writing the findings up at some point–“Some Marginalia on Doctors in the Canon” listing the ones we’ve found, the differences on Dr. and Mr., what the Doctor’s Common was and how coroners were not usually medical men (both SPEC) with all our names attached. Something for a future issue of The Watsonian once we’re pretty confidant we’ve ferreted out the lot. I am expecting that once it sees print we’ll get letters from readers, each with finds that were overlooked

By the way, in a reordering of the list I get:
Dr. Moore Agar, of Harley Street DEVI

“Dr. Ainstree, the greatest living authority upon tropical disease” DYIN

“Anstruther would do your work for you” BOSC

Dr. Leslie Armstrong “he is not only one of the heads of the medical school of [Cambridge] University, but a thinker of European reputation in more than one branch of science” MISS

Dr. Barnicot “In Kennington Road…there lives a well-known medical practitioner, named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the south side of the Thames. His residence and principal consulting-room is at Kennington Road, but he has a branch surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton Road, two miles away” SIXN

Dr. Somerton At Blair Island in the Andamans the “surgeon, Dr. Somerton, was a fast, sporting young chap” SIGN

Young Stamford who had been a dresser Watson at Barts STUD

*Fictitious old Dr. Lysander Starr, who was Mayor of Topeka in 1890 3GAR

“Dr. Leon Sterndale, the great lion-hunter and explorer” DEVI

Dr. Percy Trevelyan, 403, Brook Street, a London University man, occupied a minor position in King’s College Hospital, research into the pathology of catalepsy, winner of the Bruce Pinkerton prize and medal for his monograph on nervous lesions RESI

Young doctor Verner who bought Watson’s practice and distant relation of Holmes NORW